Tom Aspinall looking to finish Sergei Pavlovich

08/11/2023 16:38

Heavyweight Tom Aspinall has always thought that one day he'd be the UFC heavyweight champion of the world. This Saturday, at UFC 295 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Aspinall has the opportunity to fight for the interim heavyweight championship.

When heavyweight titleholder Jon Jones was forced out of the event with an injury, Aspinall got the call. The 30-year old takes on Sergei Pavlovich in the UFC 295 co-main event.

"I feel like I'm going to be heavyweight champion of the world," Aspinall told Michael Bisping. "I didn't know if that was going to be this weekend, or in five years. At some point I'm going to be heavyweight champion of the world before this career is over. I got the call on two and a half weeks notice. I didn't expect it to be this weekend, but I still think I'm going to win."

"There's still Jon Jones lurking around there, but who knows if he's going to - I don't know. I don't know what he's doing. I don't know him personally or anything like that, but I honestly think I can win," continued Aspinall. "Obviously, I'm not going to show up to fight, fly across the world, sign a contract if I don't think I'm going to win. Obviously I'm here to win and nothing else."

Aspinall's only UFC loss was due to knee injury. He faced Curtis Blaydes at UFC Fight Night 208 in London and just 15 seconds into the bout the fight was over. The injury and recovery was some of Aspinall's darkest days.

"Being injured as a professional athlete is one thing. Being injured in general is not a good spot to be in. It's quite depressing. It hurts especially when you have surgery. My leg was all busted up. I couldn't walk. My knee was all swollen up. To be injured as a professional athlete, I'm obsessed with training. I love training, training twice a day regardless if I've got a fight on. Being unable to do that and not knowing when I'm going to be able to train and fight again, it's difficult mentally," Aspinall said.

"For it to happen in front of literally millions of people, on a massive fight, that was the biggest fight of my career at the time, a massive fight in front of the O2 Arena, home fans and everything, it was the most depressing times of my life. It was some of the most depressing times of my life, but to be honest with you, now, like a year and a half later, I'm really glad it happened because my life is so much better because of it."

Recovering from the injury made Aspinall realize how much he loved the sport and made him want compete even more. He grew hungrier in the fight game. Heading into the fight with Pavlovich, Aspinall is looking for a finish.

"Someone's getting finished. That's inevitable. That goes without saying," he said. "I reckon the second or third. I think I can finish him in the second or third."